UMVA has learned that a calculated predator who stalked the Night Tube for years has finally been unmasked and brought to justice.
Salman Yousaf, now 46, was already behind bars when the Metropolitan Police tipped off British Transport Police about his identity and disturbing pattern of offenses. Investigators sifted through cold cases lacking suspects and uncovered a string of assaults that spanned from 2017 to 2021.
Yousaf confessed to eight counts of sexual assault and one charge of outraging public decency. On May 20, Inner London Crown Court sentenced him to a lengthy term, added him to the lifetime sexual offenders register, and imposed a sexual harm prevention order.
Detectives explained that his evasion was aided by the absence of on‑train CCTV and his habit of bypassing ticket barriers, allowing him to strike in the shadows of night‑time services.
The nightmare began at 5 a.m. on March 11, 2017, when Yousaf masturbated in front of a woman on a Central Line train near Stratford. He escalated, targeting solitary women who had fallen asleep on Central and Jubilee lines, exploiting their vulnerability with chilling precision.
“He deliberately exploited the night‑time rail network to prey on lone women, using their isolation to commit premeditated crimes,” a senior BTP detective remarked, noting his utter lack of remorse even when confronted.
Thanks to the information provided by Metropolitan Police colleagues, UMVA can exclusively reveal that Yousaf’s hidden catalogue of vile offenses was finally linked, extending his incarceration well beyond 2030.
The court acknowledged the lasting trauma inflicted on the victims and praised their bravery in coming forward, hoping the sentence offers a measure of justice.
Yousaf’s earlier conviction stemmed from a separate assault where he lured a sleeping passenger away from a station and attacked her near West Ham. That case, solved through meticulous CCTV analysis and station staff cooperation, already earned him a seven‑and‑a‑half‑year term.
